The Preventers—Retry Arc
by Dragonmaster870
Summary: Keishoutto Kyousuke, Kamijou Kyousuke, Sakura Kyoko, Reshigi Rin, and Nakazawa Hideki have all just traveled back in time in order to save the ones they care about, as well as the original Puella Magi troupe. But things are not going to be as simple as they first expected. Rated T for teenage language, gore, and borderline adult situations. Sequel to The Preventers—Beginnings Arc.
1. Prologue: New Game

**Prologue: New Game**

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><p>[3rd Person POV]<p>

He wakes up to the blank gray ceiling he's basically memorized due to how many hours he'd spent staring at it in the last few months. The air smelled like air sanitizer and rubbing alcohol, which is now probably his least odor combination. You know how if you hear a song over and over you start to get tired of it? That's sort of how he feels about that sanitary scent.

Yeah, it's about time to get out of here.

He gets up and feels a sharp pain in his left arm. Face scrunched up in pain, he looks down and sees the IV hooked up to his arm and the bandage wrapped over his forearm—one of the few lasting impressions an accident some months ago had left him with.

He lays back down and blows some of his bistre-colored hair out of his face. He was already beginning to feel restless, despite technically having been incredibly active mere moments ago.

__February 10th_, _he thinks, and then attempts to confirm that he went back to the date he requested, or if he even went back at all. If not, then...well...that would be weird. If that were the case, he would have been unconscious since his accident and everything that has happened the past month would be reduced to a dream. An almost comforting thought in retrospect, as that means he would have just imagined being part of the apocalypse and losing a good chunk of the people he cared about, including his childhood friend Miki Sayaka two times, and that he did not sell his soul for a wish and magic powers and wouldn't be fighting for the rest of his life.

Yes, that would be _wonderful_. But that would also mean that he would never be able to do what he loved and was best at ever again; playing the violin.

That realization instantly made him feel a little less happy about the possibility. He turns to the table beside the bed and picks up his phone to check the time and confirms that he did, in fact, travel back in time. He puts the phone back down and sighs in both relief and disappointment. He can't help but feel the risk outweighs the reward, but then again, maybe it didn't. But he knows that if he ever saw a drop of blood again, it would be too soon.

He shakes his head to break himself out of his lamentation. "No," He whispers. "You can't be second-guessing yourself now. You have a job to do."

As he sits idly in his bed, thinking of just what to do, he starts to try to move his fingers in his left hand and finds that no matter how hard he tries, he simply can't get the same range of motion he used to have. He groans internally at the handicap he has, thinking of just how troublesome it would be to heal the hand now and face the scrutiny of all the medical staff. _No, better to wait a little longer_, he thinks.

Just then, he hears a knock at the door. "Kamijou-san? Are you up?"

"Yes, come in."

The nurse was as always stunning with her kind hazel eyes and brown hair tied into a bun with two pencils. Yadotsu Kisa had been the nurse assigned to him when he was placed here in the hospital, and as such, he's had the heaviest interaction with her. And, quite frankly, she's the most enjoyable of all the staff to be around. Although she can be quite...pushy at times.

"It's time for your medicine," she says and wriggles around the orange cylinder that holds his pain pills. He doesn't really like taking the oxycodone they've prescribed him as it tends to make him sick, (he would much rather suffer the pain than weather the effects of the pills) but when Kisa is present, there's no getting out of it.

Thinking his status as a magical vessel will help with the side effects, he takes the pills down dry and thanks her for bringing his medicine, which she responds to with a curt nod of her head.

"Do you need anything else?" She asks.

He shakes his head. "No, Yadotsu-san. I'm fine, thank you."

"Alright," she responds, not quite ready to accept that as per usual, but concedes nonetheless. As per usual, if he might add. "I'll come to check on you later." She begins to walk to the door and looks back to say, "See you."

"See you later."

And with that, nurse Kisa exits the room, shutting the door most of the way as she leaves, just as he used to ask her to. By now it's an unspoken rule between him and the other staff that the door to his room is closed or ajar during times that school is in session. The only time it's open is during hours Sayaka would visit, which is normally right after school, but they leave it open until she actually shows up as she sometimes runs 'late' trying to look for 'get well' gifts to bring him. Which, he should point out, is not really necessary. Though he doesn't mind a gift every once in a while, he's beginning to wonder where he's going to keep all the stuff he brings him, and where she's getting all of her money from, for that matter. His CD rack is already full, and he has enough music stacked up in here with him to fill up another one.

He wrings his hands and starts to wonder just what it was that was going on around this time last timeline. He has the feeling something noteworthy should have started happening somewhere in February during the last loop, and he has the desire to confirm if anything big is going on right now. Grabbing the remote, he smacks it a few times to make sure it works then clicks to the news channel.

On the screen, a picture of a bloodied room is shown with the caption, 'Mitakihara Lower Secondary School student missing.'

_Huh? Someone at my school?_

The news reporter continues with, "This is Asakura Yurine reporting that third-year Mitakihara Lower Secondary School student Tomoe Mami was reported missing as of yesterday morning. When authorities arrived at her apartment the place was found ransacked with blood spattered on the walls that was confirmed to belong to her and bullet holes all over the room. The investigation is ongoing, but the police report that it is unlikely for her to be alive due to the amount of blood in the room. If anyone knows anything about this incident, call 1-800-552-7463. Back to you, Morikawa-san."

"Tomoe-san's been kidnapped?" He whispers incredulously. His senior and Puella Magi is the most skilled and experienced fighter he's ever seen, even more so than Reshigi Rin, his friend Keishoutto Kyousuke's half-brother. To think that someone could sneak into her home and grab her is something that sends chills down his spine. There are a few things he can say for certain about the perpetrator. One: He or she must have contracted.

Two: They are a force to be reckoned with.

"...number of disappearances in Mitakihara and Kasamino have been steadily increasing. In the past two weeks at least five people have been reported missing in the same manner, which is abnormally high, even for these two cities' reputations..."

As he listens to the increasingly morbid news report he gets a strong sense of foreboding as he goes from person to person in his mind, wondering if anyone else had been abducted.

_Calm down_, he thinks to himself, doing his best to achieve just that, but is having no luck. He's feeling worse and worse through every second he sits idle in this godforsaken hospital, and his miasma is slowly turning to anger.

"Screw it. I'm getting out of here." He sits upright and grips one of the tubes in his arm, but he's stopped as nausea overtakes him. He only barely managed to turn his head before he puked on the linoleum floor.

* * *

><p>She felt refreshed. And full. Very full.<p>

Moments before, she 'liberated' a meal from some customer in the _Dicey Café._ Even though it was partly eaten and nearly cold, she ate it gratefully without prejudice, but not before she scolded the customer for almost wasting his food. She had been eyeing the man in the café ever since she sat down in the restaurant, and she even stayed after she finished her own meal just to see if the ungrateful man would finish his food. The moment she saw him get up with his mostly neglected food in hand, she lost it and gave the man a piece of her mind. Very rudely, if she might add, but then again, he got what was coming to him, probably. He did sort of look like a pedophile with his thin mustache and goatee, squinty eyes and almost perpetual smirk.

Now that she thinks of it, maybe eating after the man wasn't such a good idea after all. For all she knows, he was probably 'eating' something else earlier, which was why he didn't have room for his food.

She kind of wishes she didn't eat that, now. She spits on the ground and rubs her tongue with the sleeve of her Mitakihara Lower Secondary School uniform. Her crimson eyes squint in disgust at the recent thought and she brushes some of her matching hair out of her face. It occurred to her that she had not even a hint of a clue as to what to do now, so she settles with going to home to her now-best friend, Miki Sayaka. She begins in the direction of the bluenette's house and thinks of when they first met, which, for Sayaka, was the third of February, but for her was technically next month.

Time-travel can be sort of screwy sometimes.

When they first met from Sayaka's perspective Kyoko was sleeping on the bench in one of the parks in Mitakihara and the bluenette hit her dead in the face with a soccer ball.

Not the most graceful of introductions, but Kyoko had dealt with worse.

After that, they'd practically become best friends. Which was not too surprising for the redhead due to the fact that she didn't really have any, but she had to say that for Sayaka it was something more noteworthy. Now she was 'freeloading' at Sayaka's place as she calls it, but she was the one that invited her to stay, so what does she expect? It's not like she can chip in, anyway.

As she walks past one of the electronics stores she checks the date on the television and sees it's February 10th. A Tuesday; something she should have noticed, given that she was suffering through schooling for the majority of her waking hours. But then again, she was really only awake during lunch time and breaks. Which, she should point out, is not really her fault. Maybe, if those deadbeat teachers would _attempt_ to make their lessons halfway interesting rather than wasting their breath for ninety minutes on the ears of children who don't really give a fuck, then maybe she would_ attempt_ to keep her eyes open during their class.

Needless to say, her pleas would fall on their ears the same way their words fall on hers: unheard.

She lets out a contented sigh. Just days ago the fate of the world rested on her and a few others' shoulders, and before then she was just barely scraping by in life. Now she's been lowered to having first-world problems.

And speaking of first-world problems: she has a shitload of homework and way too much free time on her hands to focus on it. If she actually sat down and did the work, it would take her an hour at most. She wasn't stupid, not by a longshot, but all of this living in the streets and not attending school for three or four years put her at a slight disadvantage compared to other students. That, and she's incredibly lazy. Or rather, she has no drive to do well in school unless Sayaka's riding her ass about it because school is basically an excuse for her to stay close to the Blueberry.

Yeah, there are probably a few lesbian undertones in there somewhere, and she knows that, but it's the truth. She's only attending Mitakihara Lower Secondary to keep an eye on Sayaka and make sure she doesn't get hurt. Looking back, she seems a bit like Akemi Homura, the time-traveler that set everything in motion last timeline and is soon to show up in this one, but the difference between the two of them is that she's doing this to protect this girl whom she's in love with _platonically _(or at least, she assumes it's platonically since she hasn't really been in love before), while Homie is head-over-heels for the girl she's trying to protect by going back in time over and over again, Kaname Madoka.

That girl Madoka just so happened to be the epicenter of her original timeline. Any move she made directly affected either Homura or Keishoutto Kyousuke, which in turn severely affected the rest of them unfortunate enough to be caught up in the moves of their fancy little dance. Hence the pinkette turning into the most powerful witch to have ever existed, Kriemhild Gretchen and causing the apocalypse. Cue desperate time-travel effort on Nakazawa Hideki's part, her classmate and magical boy who sent them back in time.

She doesn't particularly like the boy, but she supposes she'll have to deal with it because she owes him her life, which isn't something she's too thrilled about. She hates being in debt because it's a hole that just keeps digging itself deeper, keeping you imprisoned within the confines of the pit, and she despises being imprisoned or helpless, even more so than wasting food, and that's saying something.

Take a guess at what her worst nightmare is.

Now lacking anything to think about, she continues her walk to Sayaka's house in physical and mental silence, and before long she turns onto the road where Sayaka's house is standing proud, despite being one of the smaller and simpler houses in the neighborhood. The bluenette's parents had their focus on practicality rather than elegance when they designed the house.

She strides up to the door and takes a deep breath, preparing herself for whatever Sayaka will throw her way, and then throws open the front door and announces, "I'm home!"

She remains in her spot and looks around for her target, and sees her with her head down at the dining room table, seemingly sleeping, which honestly is not like her, not with her energy levels. Normally she'll only sleep when it's time to, which is late at night, maybe around midnight or so. Which almost positively means something is up.

Tucking her mischievous attitude away for the moment, she moves cautiously to the Blueberry's side and realizes she's not sleeping; she's simply facedown over top of a piece of paper, breathing hard enough to be mistaken for hyperventilation.

_Geez, what did she do now?_

"Oi, Sayaka. What's the problem?"

She looks up at her and then motions to the paper underneath her arm.

"What's that?"

She hands her the paper and her eyes widen as she understands the reason for her sadness. It's a math test paper reading a less than acceptable test score by both her and the bluenette's standards.

"I got a 10 on this, Kyoko! A freaking _10_! When my parents see this, there won't be anything left of me in the morning but a _stain!_"

Kyoko chuckles nervously. What Sayaka said wasn't too much of an exaggeration, and her parents' wrath won't be guaranteed to stop at Sayaka, looking at how quickly they became attached to her. She didn't get too good of a grade on her math paper, either (though it was a bit better than hers; she got a 25), and her parents are most definitely going to ask about her grades as well, something she's not looking forward to. "Hey, Sayaka, I didn't get too much of a good grade on mine either. But I'm sure your parents won't hurt us! At least, I hope they aren't..."

She scoffs. "Yeah, sure. It's a mindset like that that makes you let your guard down, and right when you least expect it the sucker punch comes and puts you to sleep."

She raises an eyebrow in nervous inquiry. Here's a clear exaggeration. Or, at least, she hopes it is. "Come on, Sayaka. Your parents at least keep an open hand to keep the law off their asses, right?"

"My dad has to, but my mom goes no-holds-barred. She punched me so hard in the gut last year that I puked all over the floor." She shakes her head, as if clearing her head of the memory and says, "But that was before my mom went to anger management classes."

She releases a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"That doesn't mean things are any easier." She brushes her hair back behind her ear and leans back against the chair. "Last time I came home with a bad grade on something, she took away my allowance and forced me to find my own food for _three days_. She even put a padlock on the fridge."

She decided against telling her that she could just yank off the padlock if she needed to due to her enhanced strength. No need to expose herself yet. "I can take the beating, but no food? That's my kryptonite!"

Sayaka scoffs again and waves her hand. "Yeah, yeah, Kyo-tan. I know how much you love food."

"No, you don't, Sayaka. You can't even understand how much I love food. It cannot be measured!" She holds her hands as far apart as she could to further her point.

Sayaka gets up and pats Kyoko on the shoulder and takes her paper. "Yeah, yeah, whatever, Kyo-tan. Let's just get our homework done and think of something that will make my parents less angry."

Hopefully she's kidding about the whole 'get our homework done' part, the redhead thinks, but has her hopes squashed when Sayaka retrieves her bag from the couch in the family room.

She sighs and mumbles multiple complaints under her breath, but she still goes to pick up her bag from the front door and follows Sayaka to her—or rather, their room.

_Oh, well. Hopefully I can think of something while we're doing the homework, _I think, and continue on my way to her room.

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><p><strong>AN: That's that. The introductory chapter to the Retry Arc. I'm planning on having some fun with this one. Rate and review, etc., and I'll see you guys next time.**


	2. Chapter 1: Abduction

**Chapter 1: Abduction**

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><p>[Kyoko's POV]<p>

A wave of freezing cold leaves me feeling as if I'm drowning again.

Last timeline, myself, those Kamijou, Keishoutto and Nakazawa boys, Keishoutto-san's half-brother, that Obito brat, and Homura decided to assault the witch Walpurigis Nacht from all sides, something we all thought would work, but of course the universe, being the sick bastard it is, decided to give the witch the fucking Force Repulse skill and blew everyone to hell at a million miles an hour. If Hell was wet and cold, that is, as I was blasted into the water, which, by the way, felt like concrete for how I hit it, and I damn near drowned, a feeling that if you're fortunate will only be able to speculate about. But if you're not so lucky, you get to know that getting even close to drowning feels way worse than you think it does.

Needless to say, I _do not_ want to experience that again.

On instinct, I leap out of what I'm pretty sure is the bed I share with Sayaka and not the sea floor and face my attacker, ready to do to them what Walpurgis did to me, until I see a very terrified looking blue-haired girl staring at me.

_Whoops_, I think, feeling a little stupid that I freaked out like that in front of her.

"J-just how long did you expect to sleep, K-Kyo-tan?"

I take a deep breath and relax myself and manage to say, "G-good morning, Sayaka."

That apparently was a bad move on my part, as Sayaka's mouth hangs agape as she now stares at me disbelievingly.

_W-what'd I do_, I wonder in my mind..

"What, no smart-ass rebuttal?" She presses the back of her hand against my forehead, the caring motive seeming oddly out of place, due to her attitude. "Are you feeling okay, Kyoko?"

I inspect myself sarcastically. "I'm soaked, I've just been woken up in one of the cruelest ways known to man, and I feel like I just took a dive in the Arctic Ocean. So yeah, couldn't be better."

She knits her eyebrows in disapproval, probably because of the way I responded to her genuine concern right there, but...whatever, y'know? I can always make up for it. If there's one thing that I know about Sayaka, it's that she can be childishly simple sometimes, though I know I have no right to say anything; I've devoted my whole essence to food and all, but I'm simply too amazing for anyone to point that out.

A powerful shudder reverberates throughout my body, and even more of the battle last timeline intrudes on my conscious, but this time I don't mind so much. This memory, I had managed to pull myself up the side of the promenade from the water, but as I started to reached the top, my already weak self decided to get weaker, and magic did absolutely nothing to help in that regard. It's like that radial blast-thingy from Walpurgis was magical girl kryptonite or something. Just as I was about to fall, Homura managed to pull me up, thank the Lord...actually, scratch that. Let's go with fortunately. Yeah, that'll work.

But anyway, definitely a calm period between two storms. Especially when Homura decided to take advantage of my weakness and made a move on me...well...not really, but I have to say it felt damn good to be that close to her, despite her personality. She's harsh and serious under normal circumstances, but it looks like she has a rather fragile side. Mmm, something I'd love to exploit later on; that girl needs to be shown a good time, properly.

A hand in my face wakes me from my reverie.

"Um...Kyo-tan? Are you sure you're okay? You're face is flushed. And your drool—wait a minute! You're thinking of something perverted, aren't you?"

"Huh?" I wipe my mouth with my sleeve. "Oh, no. Not really. At least, not by my standards."

She crosses her arms and stares at me intensely and mumbles, "That means it's definitely something naughty." She turns and stalks out of the room. "Hurry up and get dressed; we still have to go to school, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it." I walk to the closet and throw open its doors, then grab the nearest uniform and change out of Sayaka's borrowed pajamas. "Geez, who told her to go and be all responsible?" I mutter as I pull on my sock. Not that I really have a problem, it was just sort of...weird, you know? I didn't exactly expect her to act like that._  
><em>

I slip on my shoes and walk down the hallway, to where Sayaka is sitting in front of the TV with a bowl of cereal in hand.

"Aw, Sayaka-chan, you won't honor me with your magnificent cooking today?"

She sighs condescendingly and flips between channels. "Flattery will get you nowhere, Kyoko."

"I beg to differ."

She points to the kitchen with the remote control. "Your apples are in the fridge, and your bento's on the counter."

I walk over to the refrigerator and open and I do in fact see my paper bag of apples in the fridge. "Huh. So that's where they went..." I pick one out of the bag and grip it with my teeth, then grab another two in my hands and shut the door. I then pinch the cloth of the bento in between my ring and pinky fingers. "San kyuu, Shayaka."

"Don't mention it," She responds and places her bowl in the sink, despite what I said being nearly incoherent to the normal ear. I guess being childhood friends with Madoka raised her ability to understand gibberish. I mean, Pinkie's practically fluent in the language when she's flustered.

Sayaka turns off the TV, picks her bag up off of the couch, and walks to the door, seemingly eager to get to school. I, on the other hand, move at a much slower pace, walking slowly to our room to retrieve my own bag, and then back down the hallway to the door and slip on my shoes, while eating an apple, carrying two others and a bento.

"You're moving like pond water. And pond water doesn't move."

"I'm sorry, I don't see nor smell a fire," I rebut, and nudge the door with my foot. "You know we can't go anywhere if you don't open the door, right?"

She glares at me, and I can feel her frustration start to build up. "Last time I checked, the only thing about you that was crippled is your morals. Open it yourself."

I hold up my bag and my apples. "As you can see, my hands are a bit full."

Her eye twitches as she stands there with her fists clenched, but still opens the door. "Sometimes you make me want to hit you."

I flash my signature grin at her and nuzzle her head with my own as I walk past her. "Love you too, Sayaka."

* * *

><p>I yawn and stretch as the bell rings, signaling for our lunch break.<p>

"That...was boring...as hell."

Normally I would just sleep through the lectures, but today was something different. Today I feel...terrible. Not sick, just terrible. Like something fucked up is going to happen today. The knock-your-socks-off type of fucked up.

_What the hell?_

To think I was in such a good mood when I left this morning...just what's going to happen?

I sigh and look out of the window, and notice a girl with black hair and brown eyes wearing a very asymmetrical outfit that vaguely resembles the school's uniform (complete with a pink plaid half skirt, an exaggerated tie with balls on the end, a strap secured around her left thigh, and a pink and black striped sock on her left leg, she's quite the sight), running from another student, but not in the playful way this girl is normally seen behaving. Tailing her is a boy with messy grey hair and a plain white mask on his face, writing things in a notebook as he gives chase.

_A mask? Maybe that Rin kid's just being a creep? No...no, he wouldn't go that far if he wasn't going to get any, plus his hair is purple...So then who the hell is it?_

But then I notice something off about the scene: no one's acknowledging the two of them running through the grounds. Even when the girl crashes into some poor boy he just ignores them and continues about his business.

Cursing under my breath, I rush out of the classroom and make my way as fast as I can outside.

_Don't do it, Kyoko. It's none of your business._

_But it feels wrong for me to just sit around, _I argue with myself in my head, officially branding myself as a person in need of a shrink.

_Fine, then. Don't blame me when you're six feet under._

_Gee, thanks for the support._

I fly through the doors and slide to a stop, looking all around for them, and hear a thump coming from around the corner.

Rushing around the corner, I see the boy standing over the girl, who's bound and gagged in chains.

"I apologize, Kure-san, but a job is a job," The boy says, and summons a ring blade, just like the one Nakazawa uses.

_What the hell? Wasn't Nakazawa asleep in the classroom?_

He raises the blade over his head and continues, "You may not like the circumstances, but you'll be reuniting with your beloved Mikuni-san before long."

_You had my curiosity, stranger, but now you have my attention._

I step forward and summon my spear, but before I can do anything my whole body becomes numb and I fall to the ground.

_S-shit! What now?_

He brings the blade down but pulls up at the last second, leaving a cut on her arm, and then he sets the blade down and lifts her up by her collar, then tosses her in the ring, then pulls out his notebook again and scribbles something on the page, then dips his pen in the blood on the blade and continues his scribbling.

I attempt to wriggle away from this psycho, and I manage to crawl for a good three seconds before my body gives out and I lay helpless on the ground. Then I try to scream, but my voice box seems to be as numb as the rest of my body.

Regardless I continue to struggle, but then I feel the tug on my collar as the mystery man lifts me off of the ground as well.

_God damn it! Get off of me, you freak! _I scream internally, hoping to be able to project it through thoughts even without Kyuubey, but of course he doesn't hear me. Instead he takes my finger and runs it across the blade, cutting it, and then he drops me in front of the blade and pulls his notebook back out, dipping the pen in my blood as well and continues scribbling, then he puts it away and holds out his hand. Blocks of black and red swirl in his palm to form a grenade.

My eyes widen at the sight of the weapon, and I find myself wondering two things: where it came from and what he plans to do with it.

"This is a blood grenade. It's name is pretty self-explanatory; it's a grenade that contains blood. It explodes, and blood splatters _everywhere. _This one has your blood, Sakura-san, and Kure Kirika's. When I took you two's blood I replicated the little amount I took so that it fills the grenade," He explains, then removes the pin. "When the authorities come and see the amount of blood on these walls, they won't spend too much time looking for you two. Which means I have all of the time in the world to set the scene." He tosses the grenade behind his back and grips me again by the collar. Then he says in my ear, "We're about to have some fun, the three of us. I hope you're ready."


	3. Chapter 2: Arrival

**Chapter 2: Arrival**

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><p>[Kyou's POV]<p>

I wake up sweating in a bed.

Looking around the room, I discover that it's my own.

"H-huh?" I whisper to myself. I was just facing off with a legion of black angels—the familiars of a witch of 'salvation' called Kriemhild Gretchen, who also happened to be the witch of my friend Kaname Madoka. I remember riding in a semi-truck modified to transport people, and a conversation with my friends Nakazawa Hideki and Kamijou Kyousuke. I don't quite remember what was said, but the words 'abandoned all hope' and 'no chance' come to mind, so I assume that we find out that we can't win. After that it's a bit blurry, but I do remember some of the witch's familiars charging me, and me telling Hideki to get everyone to the next timeline, but it's a mystery what happens after that.

Weird.

I place my hand to my chest and feel the familiar white crucifix-shaped necklace. A necklace that just so happens to house my soul gem, the container of my soul that I received as a result of a contract I made with an alien. I make a wish, and in exchange the alien takes my soul, relocates it and tasks me with protecting the Puella Magi, or magical girls, who protect the peace by hunting witches—the manifestations of human negativity and curses.

I take a look at my clock and see it's seven o'clock. Sadly my clock only tells me the time, not the date. A calendar has never been graced as to enter my room, but now I'm thinking I should probably consider getting one.

I reluctantly rise from my bed and make my way to the bathroom to do my hygiene and determine if Hideki managed to send me back in time as well, but as I rise something tickles my back. I reach back, feeling for the object, and when I find it I yank it.

Bad idea.

My head jerks in response, and it's then that I realize that it's hair I just yanked on. My hair. Which is much, much longer than the hair I had mere minutes ago from my perspective, which only reached my shoulders. Now, as I stand up, the hair looks to be nearly knee length.

I would be calling this weird, but technically this was my signature hair style before I got it cut on my birthday, February 20th. So I suppose I'll roll with it for now.

I walk to the bathroom and inspect myself in the mirror. My purple hair is now nearly knee-length, my turquoise eyes don't have the same bags under them, and, upon further inspection, I'm lacking the scar on my abdomen that I received when I lost my first life.

"Huh. Maybe this ain't so bad," I say as I continue examining myself. "But for now," I grab hold of some of my hair and hold it to the light, "I have to do something about this."

I used to wear my hair out, but back then I didn't really do anything besides ride my bike. I don't even think I did that much in P.E., either. What I did in active situations was...

Put it in a ponytail.

Thus began the start of my ponytail-wearing era.

"Hmm...Maybe a change of style is good, every once in a while. What do you think, Rei?" I had already adjusted the ponytail a few times and began to brush my teeth when I realize I was seeking an opinion. Out loud. From Rei. Which really isn't a problem, given that my family already thinks I'm on the loopy side. I can always just play it off. The real problem is the lack of response. Given his attitude, you'd think he'd be totally fired up and firing off snarky comments left and right because of him losing his time-travel virginity.

_'Oi, Rei? You there?'_

Still no answer. Weird. But that's something for later. For now, I need to—

"KYAAAA! MOM, STOP IT!"

I sigh in exasperation. It is _way _too early for my mom and sister's shenanigans.

I walk out of the bathroom and walk to my sister's room. I stop in front of the door and take a deep breath to steel myself with for whatever it is I'm about to see.

I throw open the door and say, "Hey! What are you two doing in..."

The only thing I can think of when I see the scene is 'pornography'.

"Uh...Mom? Nanime? Why aren't you guys wearing clothes?"

My mom pushes herself off of Nanime and faces me. "Here's a better question: why are _you _wearing clothes?"

_Why, she asks? _"That's totally not the better question. Just what do you think you're doing?"

Nanime pushes herself up with her face flushed. "Well, I had a weird dream where you were trying to breast feed from Mom, and when Mom woke me up I asked her how it felt to have her breasts sucked, and then...this happened."

"Ah, yes. That's exactly how it happened. But why is this bothering _you_ of all people, Kyou?"

_Why, she asks?_

"Come to think of it, you are acting a bit weird," Nanime comments, "Responsible, even."

My mother steps forward and forces all of her 157 centimeters of height upon me. "So here's my question: Who are you, and what have you done with my son?"

My sister walks forward and places her hand on Mom's shoulder. "No, Mom. That's the wrong question. The person standing in front of us is definitely my big brother. What I really want to know is just what happened to you, Kyou."

_Oh, crap... _"Er...um..." _Shit! What am I supposed to say?_

An uncomfortable silence fills the room as I'm stared down by my family, who are eagerly awaiting my answer. One I'm not sure I should give out right now.

Then my mom steps back and shrugs her shoulders. "Oh, well. Better think of your answer now, because if you don't have it after school we're going to beat it out of you," she says, and then walks out of the room without another word.

I remember the last time I had treatment like this from those two. I think I was hospitalized for at least a week with internal bleeding or something like that. When the doctors asked my parents what had happened, they said I got jumped by a group of thugs.

"O-okay."

My sister gets up and walks up to me as well, buck-naked if I might add. "I'm looking forward to seeing you work your way out of this, wordsmith."

I immediately turn my head. "Whatever. Put some clothes on."

She chuckles. "Oh yeah, you're definitely not yourself."

"Huh?" _Just how different is the me from this timeline?_

"You were never so...gentleman-y, you know? But anyway," She grabs me by the shoulders and turns me around, "we've got to get ready for school. We take off for school in T-minus twenty minutes, Kyou." She shoves me out of the doorway and closes the door.

"Sheesh," I whisper to myself. "With things as they are, it looks like I have my work cut out for me." I return to my room and go to the closet to get dressed, but realize immediately that along with my usual male uniforms in my closet there are also a few girls' uniforms as well.

_...What kind of joke is this?_

Electing to ignore the frightening wardrobe for now, I pull out a boys' uniform and get dressed and then make my way to the stairs, deciding that it's in my best interests to get out of the house as quickly as I can. I might even skip breakfast and leave now. That'll land me at school a half an hour before school starts.

But before I can even reach the railing Nanime exits her room, thankfully fully-clothed in her Mitakihara Lower Secondary School uniform. Come to think of it, I think she looks like I would in the girls' uniform in my closet.

My sister and I are...beautiful, I suppose. My sister is adorable; a knockout from nearly all perspectives, and I, well...I can say the same about myself. We're practically twins, despite the one year age deficit between us. Same purple hair, same turquoise eyes. The only difference is obviously her anatomy. That and her hair is shorter and tied into two braids. What I'm trying to say is that if you don't know me, and I really try to act like a girl, I could make the boys swoon. And even if you did know me, I could still make you mighty uncomfortable.

She sees me and flashes a smile. "Oh, Nii-san. So you're still here. I'd have expected you to have ran after hearing the threat Mom issued."

I scoff. "Yeah. I still haven't crossed that idea off of my list y—wait, _Nii-san?_"

She looks at me like I'm crazy. "Yeah. I mean, last time I checked, you _were_ my brother. Unless you really are an impostor. Then I'll have to kill you." She then fixes on me with a menacing gaze as she steps closer to me.

"B-but I'm not an impostor, so there's no need for that," I plead in an effort to disarm the weapon I call my sister.

She steps back and grins at me again with her hands behind her back. "Just kidding!"

I release the breath I was holding. "Sheesh, Nanime. Don't scare me like that."

"Hmm..." She places a hand on her chin and scrutinizes me, seeming to be in thought. "You know, Nii-san, I think I like this version of you better."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well," she starts down the stairs and motions for me to follow, "you're more gentle, for one. Normally, whenever I would pull something like that, you'd mush me and continue about your business." She stops in the living room and grabs the remote to the TV and hands it to me. "Turn it to the news; you seem like you need a refresher. You want your usual for breakfast, right?"

"Uh, y-yeah. Sure." I heed Nanime's request and turn it to the news, and what I hear rocks my world.

_"It seems the serial kidnapper has struck again, bringing the number of people he's kidnapped to a total of thirteen. Yesterday police were notified of a scene in the neighboring Asunaro City, where blood was found in extensive amounts around the crime scene in a similar fashion to the other kidnappings that have happened over the past week and a half. The house where the scene was located was the residence of the young author of the novel Maps, Letters, and Love Songs Misaki Umika, and the blood of her and two others; Maki Kaoru and Kazusa Michiru were identified to be there." _On the television screen shows pictures of the three girls mentioned. One girl has dark blue shoulder-length hair and blue eyes; that's the author. Another named Maki Kaoru has golden yellow shoulder-length hair and the eyes to match, and the final girl, Kazusa Michiru, has long black hair and ruby eyes.

_"Around the same time, at the Asunaro Dome, there was a more extreme scene. The structure was ransacked, and the blood of four others was identified at the scene: Asami Saki, Wakaba Mirai, Hijiri Kanna, and Asagi Satomi."_ More pictures show up. The first girl, Asami Saki has shoulder-length white hair and muted reddish-purple eyes, Wakaba Mirai has long poofy pink hair and purple eyes, Hijiri Kanna has whitish-blonde hair tied into two low pigtails and greyish-blue eyes, and Usagi Satomi has chin-length poofy brown hair and the same color eyes.

_"And the owner of the restaurant Bistro Tachibana named Tachibana Souichirou has also gone missing in the same manner."_ Tachibana Souichirou's picture shows up, depicting him with slicked-down light brown hair and brown eyes._ "The authorities have decided that no one be out of their homes during the late hours, and if the situation is absolutely unavoidable, travel with a partner or group."_

_What the hell is this? A serial kidnapper? Twelve victims? Did Hideki drop me in the middle of some mystery novel?_

"What's wrong with you, Nii-san?" Nanime asks as she hands me a tray with a piece of toast, a banana, and a cup of tea, then sits down with her own. "Oh, this, huh? I guess that _is_ pretty freaky." As she continues to look at the screen, her eyes get wider and wider. "So this kidnapper's targeting celebrities, too? Maki Kaoru is legendary beyond her years in soccer, Misaki Umika is an incredible author, and Tachibana Souichirou is known throughout Japan—maybe even the world for his Lots o' Parfait dessert! I wonder what the kidnapper wants with them?"

_That's the million-dollar question, isn't it? Just what does he or she intend to do with them? _"Hey, Nanime? The reporter said there were thirteen victims so far."

"Yep. That's what it looks like," she says through bites of her toast.

"Who else was kidnapped?"

She looks at me curiously. "Oh, so you're still trying to find out the kidnapper's motives, huh?" She sets down her tray and walks upstairs. "I'll be right back with the list, okay?"

"Okay." _I don't think I'll ever get used to how nice Nanime is being right now._

"Hey, Nii-san? Where's my laptop?" Nanime asks from the banister.

"I don't know. Why would I even have it," I respond, and when she hears that she sighs.

"Because you asked me to use it for 'research' last night, that's why." She makes quotation sign with her fingers when she says 'research'.

I hold my hands up in innocence, and she sighs again and walks in the direction of my room, and seconds later she returns with her laptop closed under her arm. She sits down on the couch and pats the seat beside her. "Come here, Nii-san."

"Why," I ask, but heeding her request nonetheless.

"Because," she says as she sets the laptop on my lap, opens it, and puts in the password, "You're going to show me just what you were 'researching' last night."

"Um...okay..." I pull up the web browser and she grabs my hand, directing it to the 'history' tab and clicking on the most recent entry: _Imouto Paradise_. She scrolls down to the video and clicks fullscreen. After a few seconds of buffering, we see something less than suitable for kids for the fourteen and thirteen year olds me and my sister are. It's genre is 'pornography', and it's of the animated variety.

I stare dumbstruck at the screen as Nanime pauses the video and looks at me with a bemused expression. "Nii-san, why were you looking at indecent things on my laptop?"

The only thing I think to say is, "W-what are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about." She says. I simply gulp my response, and she presses play on the video and fast-forwards. "Tell me, what is this girl doing?"

_Is she really going to make me explain to her?_ For sake of not tainting my sister anymore than she already is, I say, "She's eating a sausage," with the most sincere tone I can muster.

She stare gets more intense as she clearly doesn't buy my explanation. "You know, Nii-san, I don't hate siscons. If you really want to do this to your little sister, I don't mind." She starts leaning into me and tucks some of her hair behind her ear.

"N-Nanime..."

"Yes, Nii-san?" She looks up at me with an expression so sweet it gave me cavities.

_Oh, no. No, no, no! My little sister can't be this cute!_

Then I notice my Mom staring at the two of us from in front of the TV.

"You two done?" She asks irately, and shoots both of us a less-than-friendly look.

Even though we see her, it takes us a second to realize that she was present.

"You two; out. Now."

"Y-yes ma'am," We say simultaneously, then gather our stuff and rush out of the house.

But the rushing stopped at the door. The second we cleared the door, our run slowed down to a leisurely stroll.

Nanime turns around and starts walking backwards. "So, what happened to you, Nii-san? You can tell me, now that we're away from Mom."

"Uh..." I sigh as I figure that she'd be the easier one to break the news to. "It's kind of a long story..."

She shrugs her shoulders. "We've plenty of time, Nii-san. Mom forced us out of the door ten minutes early, you know."

"Oh. Well...to give you the Cliff Notes version, I'm from the future." I pause to let her get whatever reaction she has out of her system, but surprisingly she only nods and motions for me to move on.

_Hmm. I expected more of a response from that. _

"At the end of next month, a witch called—" I stop as I realize something; this timeline's Nanime might not even be aware of the Puella Magi system. For one, Kyuubey wasn't hanging around the house like he usually does, and I never checked Mom for her ring. "Tell you what; have you heard about the Hinamizawa Disaster of '83, or the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident of '86?"

She nods.

"Okay, now imagine what happened there, only on a worldwide scale. That's what goes down at the end of March. But before that it happens on a city-wide scale. Someone turns Mitakihara into a reenactment of the Hinamizawa Disaster, and not even a week later uses the world as a stage for their sick reenactment of the Rokkenjima Mass Murder Incident."

"Whoa," she mutters, and turns back around to walk beside me. "That's...pretty crazy. To think something like that would happen in our lifetime...no wonder you're so different."

"Yeah."

We walk in silence until we reach the stairs leading to the school entrance, and then Nanime stops. "Hey, Nii-san?"

"Yes?"

"If you're here, what happened to the Kyou I know?"

_That...is a very good question. _"You know...that's the first time I thought of that. I'll ask the person who sent me back later."

"Okay," Nanime says, and then continues her trek up the stairs. She stops once she reaches the top and turns back to look at me. "You never got the list you asked for, did you?"

I shake my head. "No, I guess I didn't."

"Well you're in luck," she says, and points at me, "Because we're here extra early, you should have time to get a copy yourself. Talk to the Computer Club president Kabayashi Katsuo and ask him to print one out for you."

I nod as I reach the top of the stairs. "Alright. Thanks, sis."

"No problem, Nii-san," she responds, and then we both enter the building.

We walk in silence until we part ways at the junction of the first-year hallway and the main one, where she waves goodbye and turns right and I continue forward, towards the stairwell.

As I approach the stairs I shudder as I suddenly feel a wave of...malevolence reverberate throughout my whole body.

_What the hell was that?_

I shake my head to try and dismiss the feeling as I ascend the steps to the second floor, the floor for second-year classes and most of the club facilities.

_Kabayashi Katsuo, huh? That's a new name. I wonder what he's like, _I think as I turn left towards the Computer Club room. Once I reach the door I take a deep breath and knock. "Hello? Is Kabayashi Katsuo-san in here?"

"Yes, " a distant voice calls from inside the room, "Come in, please."

I walk in to see your generic nerd type by the only light in the room; his computer screen. Slightly messy black hair, blue eyes covered by rectangular eyeglasses and an impeccable school uniform with a sash representing a seat on the student council. He's furiously typing away on his laptop at his desk in front of the window, which is in turn in front of rows upon rows of computers.

Without looking up he asks, "So what brings you here, Keishoutto-san?"

Assuming he knows who I am through peripheral vision, I get straight to the point, "Pardon my intrusion, but I was wondering if I could print out—"

"A copy list of the victims of the new serial kidnapper," he finishes for me, then reaches to the printer and says, "Sure, I have that."

"How—"

"Did I know what you were going to say? Because I can use magic," he explains, and my eyes widen.

_Another Preventer? Just how many of us are th—_

He busts out laughing. "Just kidding, Keishoutto-san. You're always asking me for another copy when the body count is updated. You say you're trying to understand the kidnapper's motive or something."

"Oh," I say, feeling stupid for thinking that.

He continues typing and asks, "Do you want the date and where the crime scene was located on the files as well?"

"Yes, please," I say, and he nods his acknowledgement.

After a few seconds of nothing but listening to his fingers tap on the keys, the printer flashes on and prints out quite a few pages—thirteen to be exact. After they're all printed out he pulls a manila folder from out of his desk and places the papers inside of it, then hands it to me. "Make sure you tell me what you find out, okay?"

"Alright. See you later, then."

"Yeah," he waves and then resumes his furious typing. One that I find you can hear from the hallway if you listen hard enough.

_Sheesh. Just what is he writing anyway? _ I wonder as I open the folder and look at the papers. On the front is a picture of the restaurant owner Tachibana Souichirou that I saw on the news, including some personal information like height, weight, birth date, hometown, place of residence, and occupation. A bit extensive if you ask me, but the more information I have, it should make things to find out what they all have in common.

I walk to my classroom while reading through the papers. At least, until I reach the classroom door. I put up the files and tuck it under my arm, then step inside.

Inside the activities vary from playing card games like _Magic: The Gathering _to gossiping, from sleeping to horseplaying. A typical middle-school scene, I guess. I walk to my seat, relieved that I'm pretty much ignored as always, but I'm heavily studying the people in classroom. As I hold my ponytail up and sit down I notice across the room Miki Sayaka and Kaname Madoka are conversing happily, which is a good thing. The happier they are, the less likely things are to completely dissolve in front of my face. The seat in front of me and beside me hold only the bags of Kamijou Kyousuke and Nakazawa Hideki, meaning they're elsewhere in the school right now.

A shame, really, that they're not here right now. I'm sure they'd be excited to see me, plus I have a few things to talk to the two of them about, but it can't be helped. Besides, I always have our lunch break to talk to them.

For now I just open the folder back up and shuffle farther through the papers. As of right now I'm not looking for more information on the eight described on the news this morning; I want to know the other five victims.

Flipping to the papers I flip to the first name other than those eight: Sakura Kyoko. Fourteen years old, born and raised in Kasamino City, lives here in Mitakihara, second-year here at Mitakihara Lower Secondary.

_They got Kyoko? How did they manage to get her—actually, since when did she live here? In a house, no less? Unless she's living with someone, because there's no way she'd be able to afford living alone...And since when did she attend school here?_

According to the paper, she was the fifth victim. Her blood was found along with victim number four Kure Kirika's on February 11th here at school.

I flip to Kure Kirika's file. Fifteen years old, born and raised here in Mitakihara, a third-year here. Victim number four on the list, blood dated minutes earlier than Kyoko's at the scene of the crime.

Next file: Mikuni Oriko. She's a regal-looking girl with long silver hair and bright blue eyes. She's fifteen years old, born and raised here in Mitakihara, a third-year at Shirome Private School. Victim number three, the crime scene being her own home on the afternoon of February 10th.

_Sheesh. A rich private school girl _and _a former street urchin? He's hitting both ends of the spectrum, isn't he?_

The next victim was the legendary pastry-making magical girl Tomoe Mami. Fifteen years old, born and raised in Mitakihara. She's a third-year here at Mitakihara Lower Secondary school, and the crime scene was her own apartment. The incident was called in on the same day as Oriko's, but the blood was dated to February 7th.

_They managed to nab Mami-senpai too? Just who is this kidnapper?_

Finally I flip to the last file. When I see the familiar face I gasp.

Nine years old. Dark green hair, blue eyes. Born and raised in Kasamino City, a third year at Kasamino Primary School, and the second victim of this serial kidnapper. The scene of the crime was the orphanage where she lived on February 1st. Her name is Chitose Yuma.

She's the youngest magical person I've ever encountered, younger even than my eccentric Preventer colleague Omincharao Obito, who's ten years old. Yuma was present with me during the apocalypse last timeline when Madoka turned into the witch Kriemhild Gretchen. By far the most adorably spirited child I've ever met. Whether or not Hideki managed to retrieve her and send her back like he did me, I don't know.

But to think that whoever it was would assault a child is...sickening. In fact, it makes me angry. _Very angry._

I shut the folder and place it in my bag, then put my head down on my desk as I await Saotome-sensei's arrival to the classroom.

_To think that someone could take out two of the most experienced Puella Magi I know besides my mother, and then a third one...It's insane! But what do those thirteen have in common..._

"Alright, class, take your seats. We have too much to do and not enough time," Saotome-sensei says as she enters the classroom, and everyone immediately obliges her command.

"First; roll call. Aikaba Tomohisa."

"Here," A boy in the back of the class stands up and answers, then sits back down.

"Akatsuki Maria."

_Did we have someone with that name in the last timeline?_

No one stands up, but the only vacant seats are the ones in front of Sayaka, in front of Tomohisa, left of me and in front of—wait, what?

In the seat in front of me Kyousuke is sitting as if he were there the whole time. He turns around and looks at me as if he didn't realize that I was there.

_"Hey there, Kyou. You rest well?" _He asks me with telepathy. Two magical individual can speak through thoughts whenever both parties wish to. However, we cannot speak to any non-magical individual without the aid of an Incubator, the aliens that contracted us. So this confirms that Kyousuke succeeded in going back in time, as there is no Incubator present.

I shrug my shoulders. _"Sure, I guess. When did you get there?"_

_"I came into the room when you were busy poring over those files of yours. You looked a bit like a female detective there, you know?"_

I give him the finger just as she calls his name. When she sees the bird flying through the air at him, she gives me a menacing glare.

Kyousuke grins at me and calls, "Here."

Luckily she lets me off easy with just that glare, and continues on the roll call. "Kaname Madoka."

The pinkette stands up and confirms her presence, then sits down.

Saotome-sensei continues with the roll call. "Keishoutto Kyousuke."

"Here."

"Miki Sayaka."

"Here."

"Nakazawa Hideki."

No answer. The seat beside me remains vacant.

"God. I wonder if he's with Akatsuki-san again," Saotome sensei wonders. For a few seconds the classroom is vacant of all activity, but then Kyousuke stands up.

"If you want, Kyou and I could go get them," Kyousuke offers, to which Saotome-sensei responds to with a nod. "You two do that."

I rise from my seat and Kyousuke turns around and whispers, "Bring that folder with you."

"But—"

"Trust me; she won't say anything," he assures me, then walks to the door. I sigh and retrieve the folder from my back and walk to the door as well. We exit into the hallway and Kyousuke leads me in the direction of the roof's stairwell.

"What is he doing up there?" I ask.

"Because," he says, "we need to talk to you."

I sigh at that. "That doesn't really answer my question. There are any number of ways we can talk besides skipping class."

"That's not going to change the fact that the deed is done," he responds and continues of the stairs. "Just come on."

"Yeah, yeah, okay," I say. After around thirty more seconds of our uphill trek, we break out into open space, where Hideki is chatting leisurely with a girl with red hair tied into pigtails.

"Hey, who's that?" I ask Kyousuke.

"I'll let Hideki explain that to you," he says, and that's when the two of them look up and see us.

The laid-back brown-haired boy waves at us. "Hey there, Kyousuke 1 and 2."

"Yo," I say as I greet him. Kyousuke simply waves.

"So that one's _your_ Kyou, right Hideki," the girl asks as we approach.

"Yep. He's our personal little wild card, him," Nakazawa responds.

_So what, I'm a tool to you? _I wonder as we stop in front of him.

"You're a cute one," she says and steps up to me. She starts caressing my face and hair, which I attempt to pull back from, but she grabs me by my face and pulls me back in.

_Can I at least get an introduction before you start cuddling me?_

As if reading my mind, Hideki says, "The girl molesting your face is my childhood friend Akatsuki Maria. She transferred here two weeks ago from Sarousha City."

"Nice to meet you, Kyou-san," she says while still nuzzling my face.

"Nice to meet you too, Akatsuki-san," I somehow manage to say through my squished cheeks. To be perfectly honest, this girl is scaring me. She's a bit too physical for my taste. To think that this girl is Hideki's childhood friend...does this mean that Hideki had to suffer through this for lord knows how long...I'm surprised he hasn't gone to see a psychologist.

"Oh, and by the way, that's not how she usually acts," Hideki explains as she proceeds to pinch my cheeks and stretch them out. "Normally she's very composed and critical, but once she sees something or someone cute all of that personality is tossed out of the window. Since she seems to have taken a liking to you, I'd avoid being alone in a room with her at all costs. She will eat you alive."

I suppose he knows this from experience, so I make a mental note of that tidbit of information.

"If you let her cling to you any longer, she might lose all self-control and devour you here and now," Kyousuke comments as I see the girl's eyes glaze over.

"Fufu...I'm going to take you home with me..." she mutters as her grip tightens beyond human capacity.

_Someone's been watching too much Higurashi, _I think. Right now she seems like a mix between Takano Miyo and Ryuugu Rena from the anime, positively the two most terrifying characters in it.

I attempt to pull away from the amber-eyed girl, but her grip is to tight for me to pry open, even for the enhanced strength I received as one of the perks of my contract.

It's then that I see the ring on her finger; a Puella Magi's soul gem in its dormant form.

Hideki taps Maria somewhere on her back, and immediately her grip slackens and she falls shuddering into his arms.

"H-H-Hideki...why did you do that," she stammers as she leans on him for support.

"Because we have things to do; that's why," he responds, and helps her to the bench. "Feel free to fool around with Kyou afterwards, though."

"So you're just going to throw me to the wolves like that?" I ask him, and he shrugs his shoulders.

"Hey, it actually isn't that bad—"

"Anyway, let's get down to business," Kyousuke says as he yanks the folder from under my arm. "We all know this kidnapper is freaking crazy by this point, but he set a new personal record for the number of people kidnapped in a day by a single person yesterday. He abducted eight people yesterday from Asunaro, which really isn't that far from here. But yesterday he also threw an anomaly into the batch of victims in terms of sex and age. He kidnapped a twenty-eight year old man named Tachibana Souichirou."

"Is he a Preventer?" Nakazawa asks.

"I don't know; we haven't checked with Hachibey yet."

"Alright, let's just assume that he isn't one for the time being," Maria says, completely recovered from her shaken state mere moments ago. "What about the other seven reported yesterday? Any similarities in those seven?"

He hands the folder to Maria to look over with Hideki. After a minute or two of carful study, Hideki says, "These seven girls are all part of a self-named magical girl troupe called the Pleiades Saints."

"How do you know that?" I ask him, and he grins.

"Magic," he says.

"That does nothing to answer my question."

"It does enough."

"So that makes twelve schoolgirls, out of thirteen victims, and all twelve of them are Puella Magi. Which pretty much confirms that our kidnapper is after magical girls," Kyousuke analyzes, cutting into mine and Hideki's argument.

"If we disregard the male," Maria says.

"Yes, if we disregard Tachibana-san."

"Now we need to figure out—"

_'BOOM!'_

An explosion rumbles in the distance and a plume of smoke billows up in the distance.

"Anyone want to hazard a guess at what that was?" I ask as I walk towards the roof's ledge.

"Obviously an explosion," Maria says as she walks up as well.

A few streets over an apartment complex is in ruins and burning, and I can faintly hear screams over the sirens.

"A terrorist attack?" Hideki suggests.

"No," Kyousuke responds, "Probably not. Last terrorist attack we had happened before we were born."

"Shall we check it out?" I suggest to the others.

Hideki shrugs. "Let's just leave it to the authorities. Chances are it's something we don't have to get involved in."

"But what if it's the kidnapper?" Kyousuke speculates. Hideki and Maria share a look as if second-guessing themselves, and then Hideki sighs.

"Fine. We'll go," he points at Kyousuke and me, "you two stay here."

"Why are just you two going? There's strength in numbers, right?" Kyousuke asks.

"Calm down, rookies. Maria and I have years of experience; you two don't even have a full month's worth," Hideki explains, "And besides; if something comes to attack the school, who'll be there to protect everyone else? The four of us are the only magical individuals left in the city, besides Kyou's mom and Obito."

We're silent as Kyousuke and I attempt to come up with a viable rebuttal, but come up with nothing. "Fine," I say.

"If you two aren't back in the hour, I'm coming after—," Kyousuke starts, but is interrupted by Hideki.

"No you're not. You'll stay here with Kyou, okay? You won't come after us no matter what. Promise?"

"But—"

"No buts. Just promise me."

He sighs in defeat. "I promise."

Hideki turns to me. "You, too."

"I promise."

He claps his hands. "Good. Let's go, Maria," he says, and they both step off of the roof.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Here we are, a nice little chapter semi-explaining Kyou's situation as well as analyzing the kidnapper's motives. I've effectively shoved Madoka Magica, Oriko Magica, and Kazumi Magica into one nice little package. Which means the cast is enormous, but I think it'll be fine. I also managed to weave Higurashi: No Naku Koro Ni and Umineko: No Naku Koro Ni into the story. Don't know if it can get any darker than that. Higurashi/Umineko references (by far two of the darkest animes of all time) mixed into a PMMM fic (PMMM is the third darkest anime I've watched) with a possible pedophile hunting Puella Magi.**

**Constructive criticism is always welcome, so R&R, and stuff like that; you know the drill. **

**See y'all next chapter; Dragonmaster, out.**


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